Our adventure started on a sour note. The main road to Myanmar border was blocked by a strike by local student body. Our confidence to talk our way out was quickly dimmed as we were turned away. Just as we were cluelessly traversing through the side roads, to our relief, we ran into ‘Moreh Mani’. Mani came looking for us as we couldn’t meet him on time at the border to exchange cash. Mani took us through a series of winding lanes that for sure would have overwhelmed us had we ventured on our own.
Myanmar was in sight. We completed the formalities with US customs and immigrations which were delayed because of staff shortage impacted by the student strike. We drove to the India-Myanmar friendship bridge but was asked to wait until the impending return of an Indian Army General from Myanmar. The Indian Army presence was a bit heavy and that didn’t stop an inquisitive Tamil soldier from enquiring about the TN car number plate. Meanwhile, our government approved ‘guide’ (Soe) crossed over to India to grab us into Myanmar. Soe’s Lungi and confident & straight posture stood out. We completed a series of paper work with Myanmar immigration and customs, and switched over to the right side of the road and took off.
The guide provided the address of our next destination, a hotel in ‘Gangaw’, and cut us loose. In Google we trusted to lead the way. The drive was punctuated by one lane wooden bridges. The landscape was stunning with mountain ranges and luscious greenery. The large teak wood leaves were quite striking.
Just as we settling down to about 4 hours of ride ahead, about 30 minutes into our drive, we were tail gated and eventually overtaken and stopped by a vehicle. Four Lungi clad gentlemen with white shirts stepped out and asked a series of questions. Language barrier played in front of our eyes and we managed to communicate that our guide is behind us. Soon after Soe arrived in his car and produced the paper work (our local number plate and other papers). Apparently, the border control hasn’t transmitted the info to another ‘government department’.
The rest of the trip till the night pit stop at Gangaw was getting familiarized with the pot hole ridden roads and stunning scenery along the drive.
